Saturday, July 31, 2021

Tika Closeup - Day 1 of 21-in-31

 

"Tika Closeup" (pastel, 14x11 inches) $590 framed

I have a ton of great pics of this fuzzy Barbados sheep, which is a beloved pet of a friend. I painted Tika's portrait years ago, and finally decided to use another of the reference pics for a new painting. This started as a demo for the New Braunfels Art League last month, and I just finished yesterday.

See some progress pictures here!

Speaking of the New Braunfels Art League, I'll be teaching a workshop there this month, August 20-22. there are just a few spaces left! More info here.

And, yes, my numbered post title means I've decided to take up a new Daily Painting Challenge for August! I'm calling it a "21-in-31" meaning I'll post 21 new paintings this month. The June 30-in-30  was quite exhausting so I'm hoping this modified goal goes a little bit easier...

Here's Tika in her frame!


 



Friday, July 30, 2021

Callie Cat

 

"Callie Cat" pastel, 8x8 inches

 One of my commission catch-ups for July, this sweet little kitty is a posthumous portrait for a friend of a client.

Click here to watch a short speed video of Callie Cat's painting process.

 Or, subscribe to my Patreon to watch the full painting process with commentary!

Thursday, July 22, 2021

Pink Flamingo

 

"Pink Flamingo" (pastel, 8x8 inches)

This elegant bird was the star of my July Paint-Along. For a $10 pledge, you can watch the full painting process with commentary on Patreon!

Click here to watch a short speed video of Pink Flamingo's process.

On auction for a limited time at Dailypaintworks.com!

Friday, July 9, 2021

Hala

 

"Hala" (pastel, 7x5 inches) sold

I painted this during my last Virtual Online Studio day in June, but I already had enough paintings planned out to finish my 30 paintings in 30 days of June challenge, so this was extra!
To see a quick GIF of this painting's process, click here - or, to watch the full video with commentary, consider joining my Bunny Buddies on Patreon, here!

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And in case you missed this message earlier...
 
The Feedburner team announced that their email subscription service will be discontinued in July 2021. As a result, Blogger’s email subscription widget, also known as FollowByEmail, will be turned off. Specifically, the email subscription system will no longer work and subscribers to Google blogs will no longer receive email updates.
 
SO! If you're receiving this post via email, I thank you for your subscription, but you will no longer be getting these delivered to you from my Google Blog after this month.  
 
But don't despair! Here are two ways you can still get my (almost) Daily Paintings in your inbox!
 
#1 - Sign up for my website's New Art Alerts. I basically have been pasting the same info into my website art posts as I do here, so you won't be missing a thing. CLICK HERE to get my New Art Alerts from my website at RitaKirkman.com.
 
#2 - Follow my public Patreon Posts. Sure, Patreon is a subscription-based creative support platform, but you don't have to pay anything for my public posts, and just about all of my new work gets posted on my Patreon page, usually with cool little extras like progress pics or short speed videos! CLICK HERE to go to my Patreon Page and right below the membership levels, next to a button that says "share" is a button that says "follow". It's that easy! (Browse around my other free posts while you're in there..)
 
Thanks so much for liking my work and following my blog. Here's to many more years of following my Website or my Patreon, and to many more years of creating!

Saturday, July 3, 2021

Recent Sheep Won Honorable Mention

"They don't see what she sees" (pastel, 36x36) sold

I'm thrilled to brag that my most recent large sheep painting has been selected by juror Marla Baggetta for an Honorable Mention in the Established Category of the Dakota Pastels 2021 Second Quarter Pastel Competition! The painting will automatically move on to the year-end Grand Prize portion of the contest. 

Best of all, the prize comes with a $100 gift certificate to Dakota Pastels! Whoohoo!! I'm goin' shopping!

This painting, as I composed it, is an allegory on how children see differently than most adults, While the grown ups are engrossed with something off screen, the child notices... you! The viewer! This can also be a comment on how we are trained as we grow up not to stare at people and to, in fact, ignore outsiders, but it's charming how children will engage directly with strangers, and will frequently exchange a silent communication of emotion and expression (smile at a baby, and they often smile back!)

See a speed video of this painting's process here!